Reunited

Round One. Twenty-Nine Contestants Remain. Appearance Fee: $1,000.

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With Kristina’s bloodlust sated, Petey resumed his hosting duties and tried to direct the stunned contestants back on track. “Gentlemen, I’ll give you a few minutes to make your first impressions. And then we need to move this to the dining room for a group dinner.”

The introductions were like clockwork. ‘Hi, my name is X,’ ‘I do X,’ and then some really stupid joke. She’d read enough of the list to know who was coming and what to expect.

Some had already formed their own little cliques and were introducing themselves in groups. That’s how Christian, Parker, and Zach had done it. Christian was very effusive, Parker said very little, and Zach… well, he also said very little. But Parker was more the laconic type who wasn’t much for words – Zach had made a choice not to say much.

That was also how she’d been introduced to Craig, Ryan, and… ugh, Jules. Craig seemed harmless enough. And Ryan – hooo boy, that man got her lost in his eyes. He’d be sticking around.

But Jules? She was seeing red. Bruce invited him? Why would he do that to her? And then that jerk had the nerve to try and smile at her!

“Hi.” Jules’ head was bobbing up and down in an attempt to nod through this. “Look, we clearly got off on the wrong foot. Let’s start over. My name is Jules.”

Kristina looked at that offered hand. She knew she’d have to take it. But she’d let him know just how she felt about his being here.

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Jules felt his offered hand be crushed into dust when Kristina finally shook it.

When Jules finally freed it from her vice-grip, it looked like something out of a cartoon. He had to admit that he’d have some work to do.

“…Wait a minute,” he heard Kristina exclaim. “Tyrone?! What are you doing here?”

And like that, Jules was immediately pushed aside and tumbled to the ground. Out of the remaining bachelors stepped forward a dark-skinned gentleman with a finely trimmed beard and a sparkle in his eye. Jules had to admit that man rocked the tux as well as Ryan could.

“I’m here for you.”

Everyone’s breath caught in their throat. Everyone except Jules.

Right on cue. Just like those two predicted.

Of course they’d pull in a surprise arrival. If it wasn’t someone from a previous season (which he didn’t think existed), it was going to be someone from their past. He wasn’t upset that Tyrone was here.

He was upset that Tyrone was going to make blending in that much harder. And judging from everyone’s reactions, they came to the same conclusion.

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This was not going well.

Instead of trying to place everyone around one long dining room table like one would find at a rich person’s home, everyone was instead placed around one of six round tables. Five bachelors had been placed at each table, with an empty sixth chair reserved for Kristina whenever she visited.

Jules was sure that his table was going to break out into a fight at any moment. He’d been seated with Craig and Ryan, who’d proven to be friendly enough to pass the time with. No, the problem was the other two knuckleheads they were with.

Warren and Hans were jawing at each other over who could kick the other’s ass. Hans was almost a spitting image of Christian, except he had cauliflower ear from all the boxing matches he’d done. Warren on the other hand, was calling him all sorts of names because he did mixed-martial arts, which made him more of a man. Somehow.

If these two were going to be rivals, that meant trouble for Jules. His gameplan for surviving the first round relied on the producers keeping him around to bounce off of Christian. But they almost certainly wouldn’t preserve two sets of rivals. One was going to get cut for time.

Craig and Ryan’s concerns were more immediate.

“Can’t these two,” complained Craig, “just step outside and let us have a nice dinner?”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Or let them kiss. Honestly, I’d be game for either.”

“We’re never going to get a chance to talk to Kristina if they’re going to flip the table and start going at it.” Craig looked beside himself. “We’re gonna get booted for sure!”

That was when Jules saw a slip of paper peeking out from beneath his dinner plate. He quietly pulled it out, gesturing for Craig and Ryan to look at what he’d found written in flowing script.

You have found a secret advantage.

Choose two bachelors at your table. If one of them is here for the money, the light in the center of the table will turn red. But if both are here for the same reason, the light will turn green.

You have until Kristina sits at your table to decide. Announce your decision when she arrives.

Ryan grinned. “That’s great. We could out someone immediately!”

“Or not.” Craig pointed at the last line. “If we get two bad guys, it’ll look like they’re both innocent. And it looks like it’s Jules’s choice. What do you think?”

Jules looked over the paper again, then looked to the table Kristina was at. That table had a red light in its center. From the looks of it, Barry or James were in trouble.

He was reasonably sure Craig and Ryan were here for the ‘right’ reasons and told them as such. There was still a sliver of a chance Craig was a master actor with how hard of a flop sweat he was working up, but that was a play he was willing to lose to. Jules could know pretty quickly what Hans or Warren were if he paired one of them with himself… but it risked his own position.

It looked like Barry was leaving the room and looking mighty salty about it. There wasn’t much time left to consider his options.

Kristina took her seat at the table between Ryan and Warren. “Good evening.”

Jules slid the paper he’d found across the table to Kristina and made his choice.

“I choose Warren and Hans.”

Both men stared at Jules. “What are you –” “What kind of moron –”

The light in the center of the table turned red.

“If that paper’s right,” explained Jules, “one of those two is here for the money. I’m gonna let you all sort it out.” He snapped his fingers. “Have fun, I’m off to the bathroom.”

He reflected on his choice as he made his way to the bathroom and conducted his business. It was a calculated risk choosing them. But he was going to pull that stunt no matter what color the light turned. Even if it turned green, Jules was willing to claim they were both in it for the money.

After all, he didn’t need the Warren-Hans beef stealing any attention away from whatever was going on with him and Christian.

By the time he’d washed his hands and come back to the table, Hans was no longer there. Instead, Jules found himself being crushed in a bear hug by Warren.

“I should never have doubted you,” Warren chuckled. “You’re alright in my book, you hear? Anything you need, just let me know!”

“My ribs! Stop crushing my ribs!”

Warren finally caught onto how hard he’d embraced Jules and finally let him go. Jules bounded up and down like an accordion as he sat back down next to Kristina.

The bachelorette continued to glare at Jules but didn’t dress him down any further. “Diane?” In seconds, a blonde woman in a white top and black overalls appeared by Kristina’s side. “Invitations, please. Four of them.”

Diane produced four golden envelopes out of her purse, handing one each to the remaining bachelors at the table. Each of the men politely thanked her… and was it just Jules, or was she blushing madly when Ryan took his from her hands? Did he wink at her?

“Congratulations,” she cooly told the men. “You’re cordially invited to the next round. See you there.”

Craig slumped in his seat. “Thank goodness. I don’t know if I could’ve handled the pressure of being one of the last bachelors waiting for an answer.”

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A few moments later, Jules found himself sat down for a confessional. One of those segments where he’d offer narration. Someone from the production team was asking the questions; this appeared to be beneath Petey Pete’s time. After a few questions, they asked him a pretty pointed one.

“Kristina doesn’t seem to like you very much. Are you worried about that?”

Jules shook his head. “Kristina gave me an invitation. Doesn’t matter why. It means I’m here and a bunch of other guys aren’t.”

“You didn’t make a very good first impression.”

That was painfully true. “I need one good moment. One good moment and I can punch my ticket.” He nodded his head as he kept that fifty thousand dollar fee in mind. There was no way he’d get to the million. But if he could survive the first cut? Maybe the rest would be smoother sailing.